Latino Muslim Reporter

Written by Wendy Diaz, 2005 October 11, 2005 was a historical night in New York City where Muslims and non-Muslims came together as one entity to discuss untold events of Latino culture. Columbia University's Muslim Students Association and Lamda Pi Chi Sorority, Inc., sponsored "Latinos in Islam: Rediscovering Our Roots." The event was presented by Hernan Guadalupe of the Latino Muslim Outreach Program (L.M.O.P.), a program founded under the PrimeXample Company which aims to build relationships between non-Muslims and Muslims through Islamic awareness based on the Qur'an and Sunnah, or authentic traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Students and other spectators gathered in Lerner Hall at Columbia and enjoyed Mexican cuisine to break the Ramadan fasting, eagerly awaiting the highlight of the event to begin, the lecture which had been advertised through flyers in local universities and online. The Latino-inspired food set the mood f

Halal Homemade Mexican Tortillas Courtesy of Holly Garza, 2011 Flour Tortillas (Mexican style) Ingredients~ 3/4 pound (2-3/4 cups ) all purpose flour, plus a little extra for rolling the tortillas 3/4 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, about 3/4 cup hot tap water How to make–rub vegetable shortening into the flour using your fingers to knead it. Put the salt in the water mix around a bit so it will dissolve into the water. Mix the water into the flour little by little until you form a stiff-like dough. make sure there is hardly any “Powdery” parts left, as in try to mix it all together. add some flour to your counter top/table or hard/sturdy work station, add the dough on top of the flour surface and kneed it for about 10-15 minutes until it is elastic feeling and looking. Break the dough up into smaller pieces that look like round “balls” about slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Make sure to cover them up in a bowl with a cloth over it or some sort of co

Recipe for Halal Brazilian Feijoada (Northeast style, minus the pork!) Courtesy of Yasminah Ketchman, 2012 Cooking time: All day • 1 pound (450 grams) dry black beans • 4 Tbsp olive oil • 2 large onions, sliced • 1 head of garlic, peeled and chopped (Don’t skimp on the garlic!!!) • 1 pound lean beef chuck, in one piece • 1 pound (450 grams) carne seca (dried beef) or cornbeef, cut into chunks • 1/2 pound (225 grams) fresh sausages, such as beef sausage • 1 pound (450 grams) smoked sausage, such as smoked beef sausage • 200 grams bacon (beef or turkey) • 3-4 bay leaves • 3 sprigs parsley • 2 sprigs thyme • 3/4 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper • 3 1/2 quarts water • 4 cups black beans, picked over, soaked overnight, and drained Soak the smoked and salted meats in a large pan overnight (just enough water to cover the meat). The next morning, drain, rinse, and soak again until ready to cook. In a large heavy stock pot, heat the oil over medium

Written by Vanessa Rivera Abusaker, 2011 I am a Puerto Rican living in New York. I relocated to New York on July 2, 2006 from San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. My town is in the mountains, North West of Puerto Rico. I learned about Islam for the first time when I was in the ninth grade, and I thought it was a very beautiful social movement. Then again, I heard about the Muslims as being guilty for the terrorist attacks on 9-11 to the Twin Towers, in NYC. That experience made me feel very prejudiced against this religion. Then I met my husband to be in December of 2006, I expressed to him my bias, he didn’t condemn it, criticize or expressed any anger, on the other hand he remained calm, and went on to explain what was Islam, his character impressed me and started to make me curious about this misunderstood religion, therefore I started my search about the truth on Islam. We were married prior to my reversion to Islam for six months. During those six months I observed a very differ

By Giula Lasagni for Medill Reports Chicago, 27 May 27 2010 Every Sunday morning, a group of women meets at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview to study the Quran. They are Muslim, of course, but also Latinas. Most of them converted to Islam after growing unhappy with aspects of Catholicism and they found a new identity in being Muslim while also retaining their ethnic traditions. “I learned to respect myself through Islam,” said Magdalena Hanafi, a native of Mexico who is married to an Egyptian man and converted 15 years ago. Latino Muslims in Chicago are less visible and organized than in New York or in California, where they have official groups and organizations, but they are nonetheless a community. Its members are mainly women and they usually meet in informal settings, like private houses, or in mosques that give them a space to organize social and religious activities. According to a Pew Research report, 4 percent of the American Muslim population is of Hispanic ori

Written by Neda Hashmi for The Muslim Link Newspaper, 31 March 2011 Like many bilingual parents, Wendy Diaz and her husband Hernán Guadalupe decided that once they start a family, they will first teach their native language, Spanish, so the children will be able to learn their mother tongue. They not only wanted to preserve their native language for their children, but also wanted their them to be able to communicate in Spanish with their families. When they started to search for Islamic children’s books in Spanish, Diaz says she was surprised that her search came up almost empty. “We were only able to get hold of two of them which the imam from Ecuador (South America) sent us. Even brothers and sisters in Spain said they didn’t have Islamic children’s books in Spanish!” she said. So Diaz decided to buy books in English and translate them to Spanish herself. She contacted the publishers of these Islamic books to volunteer as a translator, but says she was either turned down or the

Escrito por Wendy Díaz, 2004 Cuando hablamos de espiritualidad en Latinoamérica, es inevitable mencionar el Islam. La religión islámica y la cultura árabe fueron grandes influencias en todo aspecto de la cultura hispana. Durante más de 800 años, España, la madre de todo país latino, fue poblada por árabes musulmanes, llamados moros. En el año 711 el general musulmán, Tariq ibn Ziyad, acompañado por un ejército de 7.000 soldados, cruzó el estrecho del norte de África hacia España. Los árabes habían encontrado la perfecta oportunidad para entrar a la península Ibérica, ya que el gobierno visigodo del Rey Rodrigo, estaba debilitado. Muchos españoles protestaban por la incompetencia de este reinado y sus protestas habían llegado a oídos del gobernador del norte de África. Cuando el ejército árabe llegó a España, quemaron sus barco, determinados a permanecer allí y extender el imperio musulmán. El estrecho que separa la península del norte de África todavía lleva el nombre del general

Escrito por Wendy Diaz, 2005 La película El mensaje , (1976), también conocida como Mohammad, mensajero de Dios , es única en su clase por muchas razones. Fue la primera película épica que se trata de la religión, el Islam; fue hecha simultáneamente en dos idiomas: inglés y árabe; y es una película en la cual no se enseña el rostro del personaje principal. Fue dirigida por Moustapha Akkad y fue protagoniza por Anthony Quinn en su versión en inglés. Aunque el personaje principal es el profeta Mohammad, por respeto y razones religiosas, su rostro nunca aparece en la película. Anthony Quinn es Hamza, el tío de Mohammad, cuyo apoyo fue esencial en la vida del profeta. El mensaje fue grabado en Marruecos y Libia, lugares con paisajes de desiertos, perfectos para las escenas de esta historia que se llevo acabo en Arabia en el Siglo VII. Mohammad, en la tradición islámica, fue el último mensajero de Dios para la humanidad entera. Nacido en Meca, Arabia Saudita, Mohammad logro unir a la pen

Written by Yahya Juan Suquillo, May 2002 HISTORICAL ASPECTS Thirty to fifty centuries ago, the native Ecuadorian Indian cultures were known as: "Chordeleg, Machalilla and Chorrera." They are believed to have been sun worshippers. Their Indian chief was believed to have been sent by their "Sun God." They practiced religious ceremonies offering young virgin women for sacrifice as a sign of thankfulness for the goods harvested. These Indian tribes believed in physical resurrection after dead. Therefore, they would be buried with much food, drinks, spears, gold, etc. to prepare for a big journey they thought they were going to face after death. Later on, the Inca Empire, which conquered the southern tribes of Ecuador, had almost the same practices and beliefs as other Indian tribes. When Spaniards came to conquer the new continent, the change to Catholicism was not that great. The Catholics only needed to switch the "Sun God" with the statue

Escrito por Wendy Diaz, 2005 Recuerdo una vez cuando vivía lejos, que viaje para visitar a mi amiga en Maryland. Uno de los días que estuve con la familia de mi amiga se destaca en mi mente por la influencia que tuvo en mi vida. Era un día normal para mí, pero para mi amiga y su familia, una fecha especial, un día feriado. No supe en ese entonces el impacto que tendría observarlos y entrar a aquel lugar que llamaban el “masjid” o la mezquita. Ellos son de Egipto y sus costumbres eran diferentes a las mías. Yo sólo sabía que me llevaba bien con mi amiga del alma que había conocido en la secundaria cuando teníamos unos quince o dieciséis años. Ella me mencionó que ese día ella y sus padres iban a la mezquita a rezar. Yo quise ir con ellos. ¿Por qué no? Lo consideraba una aventura y una oportunidad de pasar más tiempo con mi amiga. No era la primera vez que iba a una reunión de musulmanes con su familia pero era la primera vez que entraba a la mezquita. No me pareció extraño cuando m

Taken from ICNA Newsletter, published May 11, 2012 LOS ANGELES, California (April 30, 2012) – Coming off of their success at the LA Times Festival of Books last weekend, ICNA Southern California Chapter’s WhyIslam hosted a second large scale Dawah (educational) booth at the 23rd annual Fiesta Broadway Festival. This was the organization’s second consecutive year at the fair, which is described as the world’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration. New Muslims who had accepted Islam only last week at the LA times festival of books volunteered this week to present their new faith to others. Covering 12 blocks of the Downtown Los Angeles area, the festival drew nearly half a million people this year. WhyIslam volunteers distributed over 1,000 Spanish translations of the Qur’an and over 200 English language Qur’ans to booth visitors. Over 3,000 educational WhyIslam pamphlets in both Spanish and English were also distributed at the booth. The pamphlets covered topics ranging from the concep

Escrito por Wendy Díaz, 2005 En el año 711 el gran general musulmán, Tariq ibn Ziyad, acompañado por un ejército de 7.000 soldados, cruzó el estrecho desde el norte de África hacia España. Durante ese tiempo, el gobierno visigodo de España, dirigido por del Rey Rodrigo, estaba debilitado. Muchos españoles protestaban por la incompetencia de este reinado y sus protestas habían llegado a oídos de Musa ibn Nusayr, gobernador del norte de África. Los árabes encontraron la perfecta oportunidad para entrar a la península Ibérica. Cuando el ejército llegó a España, quemaron sus barcos, determinados a permanecer allí y extender el imperio musulmán. El estrecho que separa la península al norte de África, todavía lleva el nombre del general Tariq ibn Ziyad: Jabal-at-Tariq o Gibraltar, que significa “la montaña de Tariq.” Después de derrotar al ejército visigodo, los musulmanes, luego llamados “los moros,” siguieron su conquista hasta Toledo y establecieron tratados con los españoles. La tier